I am new to diesels and guess my last post was too long. Its unusually cold here in south Florida and I tried to start my 2000 too quick. It took about five tries to get it started. Once it is running it is really strong. When I turn the key on about a second later I hear what sounds like an inferno door open for a second. I am assuming this is some kind of valve opening? It does it every time. How liong should I wat to start this old beast in cool weather? And what am I hearing after I turn the key on? I hope this can be something other than vn 44!!

 

lift pump running or it is your grid heaters running ...ie "wait to start" light should come on/off


then start

 

so you are saying "lift pump running or it is your grid heaters running (about that strange sound?)...ie "wait to start" light should come on/off" .....I do wait for light to go off. I am going to check for water in filter when it gets daylight. The truck runs so strong that I hope this is something not so terribly expensive. Someone out here has probably experienced hard starting so we shall see! Help!
Thanks in advance. These forumsw are in invaluable tool!

 

as soon as the wait to start lamp stops glowing you can start. the lift pump should sound more like a buzz. do you have a fuel pressure gauge? you definately need one, if your lift pump is out or weak it will cause more expensive problems

 

Gunnie is absolutely right! If you don't have a FP gauge, you'd better be putting some money away, 'cause you're going to need it! If you are indeed waiting for the light to come off before cranking, it should fire in the first half revolution. The next step may be to check current flow to the grid heaters. I think there are two of them, and they draw somewhere around 100 amps each, but a search of the forum would give you the exact spec on that.

 

Easy check on grid (air) heaters... watch your voltage gauge. By the way, these take the place of glow plugs
If they are working the current draw will be obvious. They will continue to draw down the gauge till the engine warms up.
Takes a cold morning for a long steady draw.... I'd say below 30*F. with block heater not pluged in.
If they are not working, .....could easily account for hard starts. Any problem with a warm engine?

RJ

 

RJohonson: a warm engine is ok but haven't even driven enough to tell yet. I did notice this morning that both my batteries are at the end of thier life( within a few months) Florida is hard on batteries. Someone told me that I might not be spining the motor fast enough? After a few bouts of spinning the motor it does crank a little slow. I am ordering a fuel pressure guage next week. It does appear that both lp and vn44 were changed recently!

 

I think you're on the right track. A load test on the batteries will tell you where they are at.

 

That's the part I don't understand, cold Florida and hard start. My truck starts on the first crank in 15* mornings after waiting for the grid heaters. Batteries or VP, hope batteries.

 

Quick update: My first start of the day and it cranked slow but fired right up. After driving for a while I shut it off for a few moments and it started right up again. Batteries are weak and I just bought two and am going to put them on this afternoon. Either way I need them so, I have to start somewhere. I must also say this truck was sitting for quite a while before I started driving it yesterday. Lastly I did the key code and it came up 1693. Will get it scanned on Monday. Great thanks for all the help so far!!

 

My slow start was caused by weak batteries, so I think your're on the right track. Go to Auto Zone, or the like, and get your codes read for free.

 

Update on the update...LOL! New batteries are in and it cranks on the first turn of the key. So chalk that up to my first lesson. Next is my tach that only works once the truck has been running for a few minutes. I am ordering fuel guage Monday.......

 

I had that loud whirring/buzzing noise on my truck when it got cold and it wasnt long the LP . Put a new LP on and now the LP hardly makes a buzzing. I would seriously check into that when the FP guage comes in.

 

Actually I turn the key on and about a second and a half later it sounds like a furnace door opened somewhere towards the back of the truck. The hard start problem came back today so its back to square one. I am ordering a lp right away as soon as I figure out who has the best deal. There is a local truck parts store right by where I work. Dont know if I can trust as far if its reman or new??
Will let you guys know as soon as I r/r and get my fuel pump.

 

There was a change in either 2000 or 2001 in how the ECM reads engine position. It switched from the crank to the cam, IIRC. The onlder engines (like yours) still had the cam sensor, but it was only for diagnostics.

Try the crank sensor, as your truck gets its tach signal there, not at the cam.


EDIT: Late 01s and newer just have cam sensor. Your truck has Crank sensor, so start there.